The 2014 Sochi Olympics - Chilled to Perfection The design team at Swiss Radio and Television (SRF) used Maxon Cinema 4D to create magical sports moments in snow-covered landscapes in and around Sochi

Top athletes can do great things and the best can even achieve greatness. These "magic moments" are why so many love sports and why major events such as the 2014 Olympics in Sochi are so popular.

These magic moments were the focus of SRF's Sochi campaign. Extreme slow-motion and particle effects were used to underscore top achievements made everyday by Olympic athletes.

The landscapes were first created without any snow or ice in 30 (86F) heat in a studio with hundreds of square meters of greenscreen. Over a five-day period, RED Epic and Phantom Flex were used to create footage of all major sports. Staging these in a studio environment was quite challenging because the illusion of speed and power had to be created. Artificial ice surface made of plastic were used, high-speed shots were created on a specially constructed camera centrifuge and skiers were tormented on a custom-made vibrating plate, which was covered with soapy water, which made for a very short downhill run!

SRF used CINEMA 4D exclusively for all 3D work for this project. The particle effects for snow were created with CINEMA 4D's Thinking Particles feature in conjunction with Turbulence FD. The massive landscapes were created using CINEMA 4D's Landscape object. Glaciers, icebergs and details in the cliffs were created using Vray's DisplaceMaterial, and CINEMA 4D's Falloff shader was used to add more snow to the mountains.

The Magic Moments campaign was launched on Swiss Radio and Television on February 7, 2014.